


High and Dry

by Just_Another_Day



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempted Scheming, Fluff, Jealousy, Laurent is Bad With Emotions, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 18:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19951090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Another_Day/pseuds/Just_Another_Day
Summary: Laurent's never really been as good at planning as one might think.





	High and Dry

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 'Sharing an Umbrella' square of my Fluff Bingo card.

Laurent hears the sliding doors hiss open behind him, accompanied by heavy footsteps that he can hear even above the splash of water impacting the ground. With the majority of their classmates having rushed out within a minute of the last lecture slide flicking to blackness on the projected screen, Laurent has a fair guess who those footfalls must belong to. 

He readies himself, making sure he looks suitably dejected as he stares out into the pounding rain falling just a few metres in front of where he's standing, sheltered by the overhang of the upper floors of the building. Laurent refuses to make himself actually look pathetic – he couldn't bear it, especially in front of _him_ – but he can stoop at least this far when it's for a good cause. 

Damen has never once in the months that Laurent has known him failed to offer assistance to anyone who he thinks might need it. So if it looks like Laurent is in something of a bind, then Damen will be forced to overlook the tension between them (a result of the many biting comments Laurent has unfortunately levelled at Damen, because Laurent finds he's completely incapable of controlling the sharpness of tongue in Damen's presence) in favour of helping Laurent out.

"Forgot your umbrella?" Damen's voice asks from behind him. 

"That's none of your business," slips out of Laurent's mouth. He immediately stifles the groan he wishes he could direct at himself. Even now, when he's spent the better part of the day thinking ahead to this exact moment, of course he still messes it up.

He can't help it. Damen makes him _flustered_. That's not a reaction he's used to. He doesn't know how to handle it without getting immediately defensive about it.

Laurent thinks his planning is going to go to waste, after that. Even this ridiculously good-natured man will take the hint and leave Laurent to his own devices. Surely no one is such a glutton for punishment that they would put up with having someone snap at them just so that they could help that same someone, with no benefit to themselves. 

But apparently, Damen is exactly that kind of masochist (Laurent has to push down an interesting reaction to that thought). Because instead of shrugging and leaving Laurent high and dry, so to speak, Damen hovers instead. 

"You know, I'm surprised you didn't come prepared. You seem like the type to check the forecast at least twice before leaving the house. And to pack a backup umbrella just in case."

Laurent is, in fact, exactly that type. He'd known since this morning that the chance of rain in the late afternoon when the class would be letting out was a ninety-two percent certainty. Which is why he'd very specifically removed his umbrella from his bag before departing the apartment he shared with his brother. And why, when he'd heard the distant roaring of rain impacting the roof some ten minutes before the end of class, he'd been so self-satisfied.

Laurent finally turns to look at Damen directly, intending to come up with some reasonable excuse for his uncharacteristic forgetfulness. However, the words fly from his mind before they can traverse the path to his tongue. Because Damen, as it turns out, is wearing a rain jacket, with the hood already covering his curls in preparation to step out into the wetness. 

Oh. Laurent has miscalculated. 

Damen doesn't have an umbrella with him either. So he definitely can't be swayed into offering to share his umbrella with Laurent as they walk together, the way Laurent has been half-daydreaming about for an embarrassing portion of the day. Laurent's plans of huddling close enough to Damen that he would be able to feel his body heat, their elbows brushing as they walk, have no way of coming to fruition. 

Laurent feels like an idiot now. That too is a feeling that only ever seems to happen around Damen. 

Laurent looks away, trying to compose himself. He's about to wave Damen off before Laurent can give away how caught off guard he is by not having even considered the prospect that Damen might not carry an umbrella with him either. But he doesn't get the chance.

Something large comes to rest unexpectedly on Laurent's shoulders. It takes him a moment to realise that it's a rain jacket. Damen's rain jacket, to be precise, which he has just stripped from his own back. Laurent's mouth falls open slightly in shock.

Damen grins at him. Laurent considers himself lucky he doesn't simply melt at the sight and join the growing puddle of water forming on the concrete.

"Here. Wouldn't want you to end up with hypothermia or something. You can get that back to me next time we have class," Damen offers. 

"I… What about you?" Laurent asks.

"Don't worry, I can manage."

Laurent's mind conjures an image of the two of them racing across campus with the jacket suspended over their heads like a makeshift canopy. That would be… fun. Even though they'd probably end up wet and cold, Laurent imagines that Damen would probably laugh at the ridiculousness at some point, and that would make it more than worth it.

Unfortunately, Damen apparently has a very different solution in mind.

"Oh, there he is. Hey Nik! Can I share your umbrella?"

Laurent had taken Nikandros, who he knows just had a class on the other side of the building, into consideration when coming up with this plan. He'd intended to secure Damen's offer to walk with him and be gone before Nikandros ever had a chance to show up, because Laurent has observed that Nikandros's class seems to get out a little later than theirs, and he's also seen Damen get distracted and wander off without waiting for Nikandros before (usually when a beautiful woman catches his eye). Laurent had assumed it wouldn't take much to convince him to do so again. But Laurent's let this whole thing draw out for too long, it seems, so it's too late for that now. He really has missed his chance. 

Nikandros takes in the sight of the two of them, his gaze lingering distastefully on the jacket draped over Laurent. It's clear he recognises it as belonging to Damen. It's probably obvious to him what's just happened.

"Sure," Nikandros says curtly. "Let's go."

Laurent gets the feeling that he's only too happy to get Damen away from Laurent.

The _last_ way Laurent had wanted this afternoon to end was for Damen and Nikandros to end up pressed shoulder-to-shoulder under an umbrella together in exactly the way he'd imagined himself and Damen. Like they needed any reason to be _closer_ than they already were. 

But, Laurent thinks as he threads his arms into the sleeves of the massive jacket – still warm from contact with Damen's skin – and ends up with a noseful of the scent of Damen's cologne, he supposes it could be worse.

At least he'll have an excuse to talk to Damen again when he gives the jacket back. And this time he _swears_ he'll manage to come off as something other than an arrogant prick intent on insulting Damen for no real reason. Hopefully. 

Or maybe Laurent will humiliate himself and end up having to hide for the rest of his life. 

Laurent – ever the realist – resolves to pick out a good book to bury his face behind.


End file.
